Jitsu vintage figure review thread

[Spacedust]

I didn't get around to starting the weekly thread last night; I was busy (okay, so basically I forgot!)

Well, last week, we did that heroic giant fisted warrior Fisto, so this week it seems only logical to do his evil sort-of counterpart, that karate chopping foe, JITSU.

Like Fisto, Jitsu came out in the third wave of figures. His action feature was the same of Fisto's, of a spring-loaded right arm.

Many fans saw Fisto and Jitsu as counterparts to each other, although this was seldom played upon much beyond a brief battle in the showcase mini-comic for both figures, "The Clash of Arms".

Fisto was also available in a pack with Stridor, and Jitsu was also available with his own horse, Night Stalker, making the pair seem even more of counterparts. BTW, Jitsu's gold colours worked really well with Night Stalker IMO!

(For the record, Jitsu's armor was repainted and recycled late on for that of King Randor's. Many fans believe that Ninjor's head is a recycle of Jitsu's (even I have slipped up on occasion (ahem)), but it is in fact a similar but different sculpt, although quite likely originally based on Jitsu's).

I got my original Jitsu one half-term morning when I was dragged in to the local high street on a shopping trip. I had saved enough pocket money for a new figure, and chose Jitsu; I don't think he had been out many weeks.
Although he was little used in any medium, I liked the character, and he often featured heavily in my battle enactments.

Jitsu is well known amongst fans for being one of the very least used characters from the entire franchise.

He made only one single appearance in the Filmation series, in the early episode "The Dragon Invasion". Here he was based upon his prototype (although unnamed on-screen, the script called him 'Chopper'), and only had one line of dialogue (I always thought he sounded French!!), and his hand seemed to be made of flesh instead of gold.
He was never used again for fear of being seen as a racial stereotype, something that seems to have affected him throughout the franchise, which is a shame, because I think he is an interesting character with potential.

On the second-hand market, Jitsu is an average find. As with Fisto and Ninjor, his spring-loaded right arm has sometimes gone limp over the years, and the gold on his hand has often tarnished and faded.

There was no Jitsu in the 200x revamp line of Mike Young Productions cartoon series. He was the only third wave figure not to be updated; presumably the same racial concerns still existed.
However, there has since been a staction figure. It was so-so in my opinion - as with many of the updates, it was nice and detailed but slightly lost the gracefulness of the original designs; and his hand seemed way too over-exaggerated, again loosing it's graceful design.

All-in-all, with regards to the vintage figure, although he was one of the least used characters, I really like him. I'll give it a very reasonable 9 out of 10.

That's my weekly vintage figure review. Now it's your turn - I'd like to hear and thoughts, comments, memories, criticisms, etc. to do with Jitsu.
And whether you post or not, don't forget to rate the figure in the poll!

[TriKlops1971]

A 10, hands-down (no pun intended). I got my Jitsu action figure for Christmas back in 1984. I thought he looked suitably wicked. Mattel did a really good job with the figure's head and oriental-style armor. I thought the orange katana packaged with the figure was neat, too. It showed that somebody put a degree of effort into making Jitsu a memorable character.

I can see why Filmation wanted to avoid racial stereotyping, but it's still a shame we didn't see Jitsu in more episodes. There was a lot of missed potential with that character.

[JonnyTyler]

I never had Jitsu as a kid. I always wanted him though. I remember watching alot of the cheesey old Kung Fu movies with my brother, and Jitsu always reminded me of the big, bad-ass villians in some of those movies. I remember seeing him here and there in stores when my mom would let me get a new figure, but there was always someone else that would catch my eye more, so he kept getting pushed aside in my want list, until the day I finally decided I wanted him more than anybody else, and then, of coarse, he was nowhere to be found. And my mom was never able to find him for Christmas, or other gifts either. Ive only recently got myself a Jitsu off Ebay, and I gotta say, he was worth the wait. He looks cool, and he really stands out on my shelf next to all the other bad guys. I gave him a 7, only because I have no childhood memories of this guy. Otherwise, a great figure, and I too wished he was included in more of the media.

[motu77]

I gave him an 8. Jitsu was always the natural enemy of Fisto for me. I would spend hours just letting them beat on each other with thier special hands. Then after the battle was done they would each get on the correct steed and go home.

[Dr Bo]

I never had Jitsu as a kid. I always wanted him though. I remember watching alot of the cheesey old Kung Fu movies with my brother, and Jitsu always reminded me of the big, bad-ass villians in some of those movies.

That's exactly the fun point of Jitsu for me as well: is like a mix-up between a Genghis-Khan style mongol warrior and a Kung-Fu villain. Also remind of all those old Italian Sword and Sorcery pitting hercules, Samson or Maciste (not unlike He-Man) against Mongols and other steppen marauder.
Loved the outrageous eastern warrior look with red and gold, big katana and over-the-top grin and goatee. The karate chop is so simple but work so fine as an action feature. As a kid I like to put small objet in his palm to have him throw them, catapult style!

[TriKlops1971]

Yep, I remember Fisto and Jitsu having many ferocious battles when I was a kid. Sometimes I almost miss those days.

[Darth Latveria]

I never had Jitsu as a kid. He just didn't appeal to me. I was never really into the characters like Jitsu, Ninjor and Rio Blast because they seemed too Earth-centric to me. But i admit that from what i've seen, he's a pretty good figure, so i'm giving him a 7.

[Lulu-Berlu Reg]

Jitsu is my all time favorite vintage figure.
Mainly because it took (what seemed to me at the time) forever for this figure to be released here in France. I spent monthes drooling over that picture of him in Mattel's catalog.
Needless to say, the day I finally got Jitsu is one of my fondest childhood memory.

There is everything to love in that figure, from his smiling mug to his golden hand (my only grief about the 200x Jitsu, is that is hand is mate colored, and not shiny as the vintage one).

Jistu get a perfect 10 from me !